NY Waterway Ferry Terminal Pier 11/Wall Street

5 stars for the dude on the bullhorn…
5 stars for the café on the Pier.
The place otherwise is a mess. Love to take the boat and so…

It’s right across the street from my office and honestly there’s no better way to travel. The path sucks and when the NY Waterway says it’s the more civilized way to go, it really is.
But…this terminal is a mess. They have signs saying which dock your ferry is coming to, but it’s rarely right. So to offset this they have a dude with a bull horn telling you where to go. Sometimes there are 3 – 4 lines all intersecting at one point and no one every knows which line is which, you stand in line hoping you made the right decision. Basically it’s Game of Thrones, NY Waterway edition.
I am not sure with what they charge why they can’t have maybe an electronic sign updating which dock ferries are arriving and departing from. It seems like a simple fix, or maybe better designated lines, some ropes, something.
It is the best way to travel to and from Hoboken though and I feel people are generally not as asshat-​ish on the ferry as you get on the PATH. Overall, the way to go.

Pier 11/​Paulus service has declined. Within the past month, the boat has slowed down/​vibrated significantly. A 5:45pm ferry departing from arrived at Paulus Hook at 6:21pm. Unacceptable.
The boats are old, dirty.
Would be nice to hear at least something from management regarding these issues.

Rude workers that are not helpful in the least. Simply put, a bunch of dumb@$$es. Visting from the DC area, obviously we’re not familiar with area. Before boarding we asked if they were stopping at Hunters Point SOUTH, and the guy said yes. So we boarded, and they stopped at 4 or 5 stops and then at the last stop instructed we all had to get off. I asked the guy what happened to Hunters Point SOUTH, and the guy said oh that was the last stop, and I told him when we stopped there you said it was Hunters Point WEST, not south. And the guy responded «oh that’s the same thing!» And the other worker chimed in and said «If you want to ride back you’ll have to buy another ticket!». Now how would we know WEST meant the same thing as SOUTH!!! Even their own map shows the stop as SOUTH. So it doesn’t make any sense that their own employee would announce a different name and not the name printed on their own directional map. Maybe the locals call it WEST and knows it means the same thing as South. If you don’t know your way around here, don’t ride this Water Taxi, we ended up spending twice the amount because we had to Über back to the other side of the Hudson river.

Aside from the egregiously priced «water taxi» ride (more than $ 7 if memory serves) from the trappings of Wall Street to Hoboken, NJ… the views of the city might be at their loveliest if one has the good fortune of having a soft splash of sunlight from the west and the wind at their back. Truly, the ride from the docks of the Financial District to the shores of NJ goes by within a span of time that seems to as short as a snap of a finger.
I was prompted to use this method of transit into Jersey to kill two birds with one stone, i.e.
1) continue an important telephone conversation with the most important woman in my life (i.e. Mom) without being cut off by the underground-​ed-​ness of the PATH train…
and
2) make an actual commute to Hoboken.
The water taxi from this dock/​pier allowed for the performance of both. Initially, I thought that the price of my ticket to board would be cheaper than the fee for the PATH train; thanks for the misdirect Google maps. It was foolish to trust the Google map price of $ 2.25… Though I begrudgingly ended up paying nearly triple the afore-​ly anticipated price, the sun-​kissed waves against the backdrop of NYC’s hulking cityscapes inspired feelings of hope in this ragged city cynic (i.e. me).
Plus I was got to Hoboken 15 minutes faster than I would have on the PATH. So that was cool too.

I love how you deleted my post on facebook TWICE!
Well today sucked, no ferry bus picked me up on 5^th and 57^th. I walked from 77^th and 2^nd to 5^th and 57^th. I was told by your bus driver this morning that is where you pick up people on holiday schedules. I watched 2 buses pass me and not one of them made the trip towards me. After an hour of waiting i gave up and had to walk to 42^nd and 12^th to catch a ferry back home. Really bad customer service today!
I read the schedule twice and took a photo of it and even asked before I left this morning because of the chaos of Holiday Schedules. Just proves to show you that Lies that they tell people on holidays!

What can I say, the Waterway runs like any other public transportation in the city of Manhattan.
Step 1) Pray your boat comes on time and at the right dock.
Step 2) Avoid grumpy employees who hate their jobs.
Usually the ferries are reliable and on time, but there are also definitely times when the ferry doesn’t show up and you’re plain out of luck. I ride the ferry to my client on a weekly basis in Jersey city since the ferry is closer to me than the Path. The employees are cranky and hate their jobs, so I wouldn’t ask them questions i.e. where’s the ferry? is it late?, and when you miss an announcement over the old/​breaking loud system they’ll scold you for not paying attention. It’s unfortunate that the kinder dockmen have to be lumped in with the majority of the employees who probably wouldn’t flinch if a boat happen to burst into flames.
Does it get me from point A to point B? Yes, and for that, I’m happy the ferry exists!

This is a great way to travel from Wall Street to dumbo. However, the weekend service is extremely unreliable. Today my family raced to make the 10:20am ferry. Only to wait in the cold for a boat that never showed up. And it would be one thing if the boat was cancelled and people were notified. But that never happened. The three dudes just chillin in the booth kept saying the 1020 ferry was «late». The third time I asked him to define «late»… after checking with his supervisor he told me that meant the boat planned for 1020 was late and did not plan of stopping at pier 11. Umm at most other businesses on earth, if you cancel something — you notify your customers. I’m still trying to figure out what happened to that boat and why they need to pay three dudes to sit in a box and give out useless/​incorrect information. I certainly hope my tax dollars do not contribute to that cause.
On the other hand when the boat does arrive on time. It’s delightful. Super fast and easy trip across the water. And the boat staff is very friendly and willing to help with strollers.
Some of those dudes from the box should be reallocated.

I have absolutely no complaints about this $ 5 option to IKEA in 20min. The ride is smooth, quick, and clean. Staff isn’t particularly friendly but I honestly don’t need them to be. It’s really easy to get your ticket from the booth and stand in the typically modest line. Be sure to hold on to your ticket though because if you spend more than $ 10 in the store you get reimbursed for it. So it’s a free ride! Anytime I need to get to IKEA from the city, this is the only way I’d consider doing it.

This place is a fancy taxi stand just on the water. There are many boats that come and go from this pier. It might even be the busiest boat pier on the east river. We are here for the Sea Streak boat to take us back to the Jersey Shore. I will say that they need to post which boat is where a little better. We stood in line for a bit till we figured out that we were in the wrong line. The place is pretty nice thou. It is always kept clean and free from unwanted trash. You know the stuff some people just throw on the ground instead of in the trash cans they have all over the place. In all a really good pier with a ton of people using it everyday.

This pier is a bit confusing to the average tourist. When we walked up and asked the folks in front of us in the very long line stretching to street, if we were in the right line for the Seastreak to Highlands, NJ? The lady says oh yeah right. A short while later another lady walked up and says «is this the line to go to Ikea?» So we go and find someone from the port authority who directed us to the appropriate gate in the pier. Fortunately it was before the boat arrived. I must say that the gates could be better marked. May I also suggest a few more benches to rest our tired feet, there’s a lot of walking in NYC!

Thank you for the remarkably rude and incoherent treatment aboard the NY Waterways Ferry Empire State. Asked if we could ride the vessel to Dumbo, we were told we could. Then upon arrival at Governor’s Island we were forced to exit and buy another overpriced ticket (note there is no way off of Governors Island, and I had spent a total of $ 12 for a single ride). Moreover the deckhand was incredibly rude.
I want to like and use the ferry, but it really needs to be a more user friendly enterprise. It should cost $ 12 for a single ride. Then perhaps New York can have the ferry system it deserves.

If only I could commute up to Queens every day this way. I take this very so often up to LIC and then walk to Astoria from there. Clearly far longer than taking he subway but that view with a subset will knock you on the ground. It’s stunning!
It’s tourist season now so the ferry’s are definitely packed with tourists. It can be a bit much, but it’s really worth it. If you live in LIC, Greenpoint, or Williamsburg it’s worth the $ 4. Also the ferries go to Governor’s Island in the summer as well!
Definitely download the app to purchase tickets and see times. It’s far easier than relying on paper tickets and environmentally friendly to boot!

Awesome way to get from Manhattan to Red Hook, Brooklyn! It travels to three stops: Wall Street, Manhattan, Red Hook, and Ikea. On the weekends it is free! Traveling on the Ferry offers a great view of Manhattan, Governors Island, the Statue of Liberty and the southwest side of Brooklyn. The wait was about 20 minutes longer than scheduled and sadly some of the other people who sat near me on the ferry were drunk college kids that somewhat ruined the experience. But for where I was going, it was much more convenient to take the ferry than the subway and as a mode of transportation, it was quite a nice experience as well.

Love it. Took the ferry to Brooklyn on a sunny Saturday afternoon! Awesome!

Well, it’s been over 3 years since I moved from Brooklyn to New Jersey, so I rarely ever have to take the ferry anymore. And that’s a shame because commuting to work by boat was by far the very best commute I ever had.
Unfortunately, waiting for the ferry was never much fun, especially in the cold and rain. The terminal, jam-​packed full of cranky commuters waiting to go home, with very few places to sit, dirty bathrooms, rude ticket sellers, no food, no drink… was pretty abominable. Not like «Port Authority abominable» luckily, but unpleasant nonetheless.
But things seem to be improving a bit. I took my wife and kids on a roundtrip ferry ride from Paulus Hook to Pier 11 recently. Gone are the old benches in favor of long picnic table-​like seating. And now the little quickie mart inside the terminal sells booze. It’s kind of hilarious watching people order drinks here. The couple in front of me ordered two Hennessy and Cokes. I watched as the cashier filled two white styrofoam cups full of ice, mixed the drinks, and topped them with coffee-​sipping lids. Like, wow. That’s rocking it old school whino-​style. But hey, what’s better than a ferry ride home, than a drunk ferry ride home?
Unfortunately, it will take a lot more than access to alcohol to make this terminal not feel like Purgatory’s sad waiting room. But it’s obviously evolving, and that’s a good thing.
Extra points for the guy who runs around outside with the bullhorn barking at people to hurry up and board their ferry. I can’t believe he’s still out there doing his thing. Now, that’s a guy who *really* deserves a drink.

Convenient but a royal pain in the you know what if you’re trying to head BACK to Manhattan.
The «terminal» is small but perfect for the water taxi crowd. On the weekends, it’s free and gets you to Erie Basin Park as well as to Ikea. This would be a great service if they ran additional ferries on event days. We were headed to the park for Pig Island and while getting to Brooklyn was a breeze, getting back was a disaster. One ferry per hour… On a weekend… During an event. Makes zero sense. Thank goodness Ikea has their own shuttle bus to Borough Hall.

At least its a free water taxi ride to IKEA on the weekends. Not much else to say. Not much to see here other than water ferry boats docked at the pier, with some going back and forth. Not enough signage either pointing out the pier locations.
At least their service is decent and as I stated before it’s a free ride on Sat and Sun.
On the weekends the water taxi will take you to IKEA, Fairway, and Red Hook Brooklyn. As I used it this weekend the ride was good but the boats can be a litle more timely as they don’t seem to stick with an on-​time schedule. Plus, they are not all that big and you’ll find yourself cut off a boat and waiting 45 minutes or more for the next to show up. Eh, it is free.
Ain’t nuthin’ much in this city for free!

In a panic to get into New Jersey of learning my usual route via PATH train from WTC to NJ was not operating on weekends due to construction, I had to seek an alternative. NY Waterway operates ferries to/​from NJ — NY daily to pickup stranded passengers unable to take the PATH train (i.e. like me). The view of Downtown Manhattan is beautiful on a clear sunny day. The boat ride is quick approx. 20 minutes and calm, quiet, no panhandlers, no street busk musician performers, no peddlers selling candy, no religious preachings, no teenagers amateur «showtime» acrobats unlike the MTA subways and the scenic view is beautiful. Personally, this ferry reminisce many fond memories of Hong Kong’s Starferry ushering passengers from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon for the same scenic skyline city view and very moderate price. The boat is stable without going at highway speed and passengers who are prone to motion sickness need not to worry as the ride is quick. For $ 2.50 per adult, one way it is the same cost as one MTA subway fare. Passengers must have ticket when boarding the ferry for admission, which must be presented to a NY Waterway personnel.
I agree with a Unilocaler regarding the signage to Brooklyn, Queens, New Jersey are confusing and possibly misleading. To attain correct directions ask the NY Waterway ticket window clerks. Note: In stillness sit to intake the inner peace and scenic skyline city view.

The service itself is good. There are multiple boats to get you to Ikea, Brooklyn and midtown.
The signage is horrible. There seem to be randomly strewn throughout the pier. Not every ticket window sells tickets to the same boat.